The Cognitive Animal. Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives on Animal Cognition

Abstract

The term Ôanimal cognitionÕ refers to the scientific study of the mental lives of animals. To the extent that humans are animals then perhaps the term ÔanimalÕ is redundant, for who would claim that one could study cognition in a computer or a cucumber? And although there may be some debate as to which topics should be included within the general rubric of ÔcognitionÕ, it involves a variety of processes including the ability to learn and remember, to think rationally about a problem, to think about the way others think, and to communicate information to other individuals. So it is not surprising then that a book with the title ÔEmpirical and theoretical perspectives on animal cognitionÕ would contain a large array of topics on a wide selection of species, from ground squirrels and jumping spiders to parrots, olive baboons and ravens. Indeed diversity is the name of the game in this book, with contributions not only from comparative psychologists and ethologists, but also from philosophers, neuroscientists, computer scientists, modellers, and developmental psychologists, to name but a few; and the approaches taken by the various authors reflect this diversity in discipline, methodology, as well as the degree to which they accept or reject the question of whether animals are conscious.The book is divided into four sections, each of which contains a number of short essays by one of the experts in that area. The first section is entitled ÔThe diversity of cognitionÕ and contains 22 chapters, beginning with a theoretical approach by Crist, and by Rivas and Burghardt, followed by empirical overviews of specific research areas describing the behaviour of a number of species of invertebrates as well as vertebrates. There is also a comparison of human and animal minds by Saidel. Timberlake stresses the methodogical approach in an essay entitled ÔConstructing animal cognitionÕ, and an unusual chapter on ÔSynthetic ethology: a new tool for investigating animal cognitionÕ by MacLennan. Inevitably these chapters vary in quality, and some will appeal more than others depending on the reader's sympathies. I particularly liked the chapter by Godfrey-Smith.The second section of the book is considerably shorter, containing nine essays on ÔConcepts and categoriesÕ. This section includes Pepperberg's work on African grey parrots, Cook's work on pigeons, Schusterman's work on sea lions, and of course a number of chapters on primates by Matsuzawa, Brannon and Terrace, and Santos, Hauser and Spelke. I was surprised there was no chapter on concept formation in honey bees here, especially given the beautiful work of Giurfa and Menzel. I would also have liked to see a chapter by Fagot on functional categorization.The third section is entitled ÔCommunication, language and meaningÕ. This section is surprisingly short, relative to the rest of the book, with just eight essays, ranging from questions about vocal communication in primates, dolphins, prairie dogs and chickens, to the importance of gestures and sign language. To my taste, this se...

Rarity and endangerment: Why do they matter?

“…15. Much recent work in cognitive ethology supports this claim (see, for example, Bekoff et al, 2002). For an excellent (though far from recent) defence of the claim that some animals have not just certain higher-order mental properties but lifeworlds, see (Compton, 1979: 24-25).…”

The brain/body-in-the-world system is cognitive science’s study object for the twenty-first century / El sistema cerebro/cuerpo-en-el-mundo es el objeto de estudio de la ciencia cognitiva en el siglo XXI

“…En los últimos 30 años, diversos científicos se han interesado en el rol y la relevancia del cuerpo, el comportamiento y el contexto en la generación de conductas adaptativas y procesos de interacción social (Clark, 2013;Goldman & de Vignemont, 2009;Varela, 2002). Esta discusión, ya presente en Darwin (1872), desencadenó una suerte de 'rescate' de obras publicadas a finales del siglo XIX y durante la primera mitad del siglo XX, desde von Uexküll (Bekoff, Allen, & Burghardt, 2002) y Merleau-Ponty (Varela, Rosch, & Thompson, 1991) hasta Bartlett (Miller, 2003) y Goldstein (Goldstein, 1939) 1 . Provocó también un giro en el entendimiento de la mente humana, pasando desde el interés en estudiar cómo la cognición representa y manipula símbolos abstractos a un énfasis por entender cómo el operar de la cognición es modulado o, según enfoques más radicales, producido por el cuerpo en interacción con el mundo (Clark, 1999;Varela, 2002).…”

“…Over the last 30 years, various scientists have become interested in the role and relevance of the body, behaviour and context of the generation of adaptive behaviours and processes of social interaction (Clark, 2013;Goldman & de Vignemont, 2009;Varela, 2002). This discussion, already present in Darwin (1872), triggered a 'recovery' of works published at the end of the nineteenth century and during the first half of the twentieth century by a variety of authors, from von Uexküll (Bekoff, Allen, & Burghardt, 2002) and Merleau-Ponty (Varela, Rosch, & Thompson, 1991) to Bartlett (Miller, 2003) and Goldstein (Goldstein, 1939) 1 . It also provoked a change of focus in the understanding of the human mind, moving from an interest in studying how cognition represents and manipulates abstract symbols to understanding how the operation of cognition is modulated or, according to more radical approaches, produced by the body in its interaction with the world (Clark, 1999;Varela, 2002).…”

Effect of Makeup Use on Depressive Symptoms: An Open, Randomized and Controlled Trial

“…The mirror test was originally developed by American psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. for testing animal cognition [ 25 ]. Although the purpose used in the present study has not been validated, we considered its use as an opportunity to assess its applicability in such studies as it has been frequently used by companies in the field of beauty and aesthetics.…”